


Turn Dust Into Gold

by anotherblight (orphan_account)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Polyamory, Recreational Drug Use, Switchblades and Gym Class AU, sbgc au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:44:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/anotherblight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It was just becoming warm again and Adam insisted on getting started with the Spring cleaning. Bruce was the one who calmly told Adam that the house was already bare but they should work on the attic, a place Adam didn’t dare go very often."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn Dust Into Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted here: http://mikewazowskitakesafall2008.tumblr.com/post/140879045258/turn-dust-into-gold-words-1505

Most of the boys were gathered in the front room.

Sean and Joel sitting cross legged at the coffee table with their school work scattered across the surface, Lawrence watching them intently from his spot on the rocking chair tucked away in the corner, Matt curled up in his lap with a pair of headphones in. James playing some arcade game with the sound on he large TV muted.

It was just becoming warm again and Adam insisted on getting started with the Spring cleaning. Bruce was the one who calmly told Adam that the house was already bare but they should work on the attic, a place Adam didn’t dare go very often.

After his parents passing Adam (and the occasional relative that visited) had packed his parents things away and split the boxes between the attic and the garage.

Once Bruce had moved in Adam took the rest of the boxes in the attic, afraid that Bruce would get paint on them.

( _‘Getting paint on the outside won’t destroy whatever’s inside’_ Bruce had said, and Adam began to cry because _'it may not mean anything to you but I don’t want to risk it’._ Bruce helped Adam move the boxes that night and the pair slept tangled together on the floor of the front room as Adam’s tears dried on Bruce’s shoulder.)

* * *

The next weekend all six of the boys had arrived to help Adam sort through the attic.

There was enough standing room so that they could easily handle the boxes without straining or ending up covered in dust. A makeshift assembly line had formed with Adam and Lawrence in the attic, Matt, Bruce and James passing boxes off to Sean and Joel in the kitchen. Most of the ones they had pulled out were labeled which made the process easier.

Once Adam was sure that he’d found all the boxes that were labelled 'clothes’ everyone gathered in the kitchen.

* * *

The boys watched as Adam stood in front of the pile of dusty boxes. Bruce was the one to step up next to him at the first sign of distress.

Adam was breathing heavy and his hands were balled into fists at his side.

Bruce held onto Adam’s fist and eventually his grip loosened enough to grab a hold of his boyfriend’s hand.

 _'Why don’t we put on some music? Yeah does that sound okay, we’ll make it fun alright.’_ Bruce was down on one knee in front of Adam, looking up at him like an adult would talk to an upset child.

His shaved head nodded and James disappeared into the living room to plug a phone into the speakers.

_'Matt can you go open the windows? Air this place out a bit, I’m sure it’ll start smelling a little musky’_

Bruce was taking charge now, a natural role for the hotheaded teen (though he’d rather follow Adams instruction but he’s the one to step up first if Adam can’t).

The oldest smiled when James returned and the music that started to play loudly throughout the home wasn’t angry punk rock music (a usual for the house), but a mixture of top 40s and classic rock sing-alongs.

No one had noticed when Sean slipped out of the room, just when he returned with a small glass pipe and a soft smile.

_'I thought- maybe it’ll help get the ball rolling?’_

The pipe is passed to Adam first and then around the circle of boys before it’s abandoned in the sink.

A soft _thank you_ comes from Adam and he takes a few more breaths before turning to address the entire kitchen.

 _'I don’t know exactly what’s in these boxes, they’ve been up there for a while. So before tossing anything, just, show me please…_ ’ he trails off and grabs the first box to pass out.

* * *

They’re all scattered around the kitchen. Sean digging through a box while sitting on the table, Joel (respectively) in one of the seats - box at his feet. Lawrence sitting on the counter next to the sink. James and Bruce had their backs to the counter as they sat on the floor with a box between them. Adam and Matt opposite the pair in a similar fashion.

Adam opened the box between Matt and himself and began to rifle through the fabrics inside.

He was thankful that all seven of them were together, that they had all come to help him through this.

* * *

The project had devolved into laughter as Joel started to admire and try on Adams mothers clothes. He was respectful enough not to mock the clothes and it made Adam feel more relaxed about the whole situation.

* * *

The idea was just to go through all her clothes to throw out damaged ones and pass off the rest to a thrift shop. At least until James found an evening gown carefully folded at the bottom of his and Bruce’s box. James was careful to pull it out, as if he were afraid his bony fingers would tear the fabric. A gown of this fashion should have never been stuffed away like it was.

Adam notices James unravelling the dress carefully while the others watch Joel strip to just his underwear to put on a floral skirt.

Adam crawls over to James to get a better look at the fabric.

 _'I’ve seen this dress before,’_ Adam tells James softly. He climbs onto James lap so that the dress is between their chests.

_'I think I’ve got a picture of her in it upstairs.’_

James passes the gown over and Adam begins to run his fingers through the golden fabric. His black-painted nails contrast with the smooth gold. Adam hadn’t seen the dress since his birthday before their passing. Before his clothes were held together with crooked stitches and safety pins, before there was dirt under his nails from constant gardening and scars on his knuckles from too many fights.

A tear falls, turning the gold a darker shade. James pulls Adam to his chest and rubs soothing circles into his back.

_‘Hey, Adam it’s alright. Do you want me to help you find that picture?’_

The spikes of Adam’s hair scratch the underside of James’ chin as he nods.

By now the couple has caught the attention of the rest of the boys and their progress slows.

 _‘Adam and I will be back,’_ James tells the room as he helps Adam to his feet.

With the gown clutched to his chest, Adam lets himself be lead up the stairs.

* * *

They come back to find Bruce shushing the others.

 Adam holds out a shaky arm showing his boyfriends a framed photo of a couple and a young boy in baggy formal-wear with a crooked wire crown sat on unkempt hair. _**Adam.**_ Except, it’s not Adam, it’s only a version of himself, a long forgotten boy.

 

 _‘It was my birthday and we went to a fancy restaurant because, y’know, when you’re a kid you always want to be older than you actually are,’ he laughs softly, ‘though when you are older it’s not as fun as playing house. I wanted it to be an adult birthday where we go out for dinner and the restaurant gives you some fancy dessert instead of a simple chocolate cake with a candle on top. My parents gave me that crown when we got there, telling me that I may be getting older but I’ll still be their prince…’_ he stops talking as the air in the kitchen becomes stiff.

The music quiets as it loads the next song and James would have laughed at the timing of Adams’ silence.

A guitar riff breaks the silence and Sean’s face splits into a wide grin. Now James can no longer contain the laughter, though it’s not a nervous laugh this time. James leans back and laughs wholeheartedly.

Adam grins with his teeth barred. The whole series of events is almost comical. His emotions are split between experiencing the grief of his parents death again and the warmth and love from his boys.

 

Overwhelmed, Adam starts to sob.

 

James slips an arm around Adams shoulders as Matt comes up to hug the crying boy’s waist.

James is the first to whisper the lyrics into Adam’s ear, a barely audible _‘out here in the fields’_ over the pitched voice of Roger Daltrey.

The eyeliner begins to bleed black against the red of Adam’s face.

Bruce stumbles to his feet to stand in front of Adam’s shaking figure. His lyrical voice flows through the kitchen along with Daltrey’s ‘ _don’t cry, don’t raise your eyes’_ as he smudges Adam’s eyeliner more in an attempt to wipe away the tears.

Sean races to the front room to adjust the volume and by the end of ‘ _teenage wasteland’_ and the crash of drums, the house shakes.

Bruce is smiling with his forehead pressed to Adam’s in the center of the kitchen as Lawrence and James’ voices scratch out the lyrics. Matt spins Sean and Joel around on the tile floor.

**_And Adam finally laughs._ **


End file.
